South Korean traders have shown a continuous interest in cryptocurrencies in recent times, with many of them turning to tokens like Solar (SXP) and Icon (ICX). These digital assets noticed up to 40% surge in price in last 24 hours and significant trading volumes on Korean crypto exchanges have been observed. Approximately $420 million in volume was seen in the ICX-Korean Won token pair on Upbit and more than $490 million in volume on the SXP-Won pair - both of these amounts exceed the combined trading volume of Bitcoin and Ethereum token pairs. Though the market capitalization of SXP and ICX are lower at $455 million and $350 million respectively, the trading volumes clearly surpass the market values.

The current uptrend may be related to recent announcements by Binance that they would support a token migration of SXP which could have spurred the interest from Korean traders. Icon is widely accepted altcoin in the Korean markets due to its local roots. Transactions across multiple blockchains is possible due to the network, which makes it an attractive option for staking, network governance, and collateralization of DeFi platforms. The phenomenon of the 'Kimchi Premium' - where prices of Bitcoin in Korean exchanges trade above international prices by as much as 30% - originates from the region, further reinforcing their preference for cryptocurrencies.

Last week, Upbit led the global XRP trading volumes with more than $790 million worth of tokens traded in the 24-hour window. Though figures are impressive, there’s a good chance that wash trading may be among the reasons as it is a manipulative technique where traders repeatedly buy and sell the same asset to create a false impression of market activity. Nevertheless, the trend remains quite clear, that South Korean traders are increasingly leaning towards cryptocurrencies.



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